Clay Out of Silence
By : C.K. Williams
chances are we will sink quietly back
into oblivion without a ripple
we will go back into the face
down through the mortars as though it hadn’t happened
earth: I’ll remember you
you were the mother you made pain
I’ll grind my thorax against you for the last time
and put my hand on you again to comfort you
sky: could we forget?
we were the same as you were
we couldn’t wait to get back sleeping
we’d have done anything to be sleeping
and trees angels for being thrust up here
and stones for cracking in my bare hands
because you foreknew
there was no vengeance for being here
when we were flesh we were eaten
when we were metal we were burned back
there was no death anywhere but now
when we were men when we became it
*Published in 1971*
into oblivion without a ripple
we will go back into the face
down through the mortars as though it hadn’t happened
earth: I’ll remember you
you were the mother you made pain
I’ll grind my thorax against you for the last time
and put my hand on you again to comfort you
sky: could we forget?
we were the same as you were
we couldn’t wait to get back sleeping
we’d have done anything to be sleeping
and trees angels for being thrust up here
and stones for cracking in my bare hands
because you foreknew
there was no vengeance for being here
when we were flesh we were eaten
when we were metal we were burned back
there was no death anywhere but now
when we were men when we became it
*Published in 1971*
C.K Williams sees the world itself as a piece of art. He shows how us as people are nothing compared to the universe. Even though when we turn into nothing we will remember the artistic parts of where we all lived (earth and sky). Reading C.K. Williams thoughts spark your imagination to think of all the beauty we take for granted. The vernacular of the 20th century has made it easier for us simple-minded human beings to understand the full concept of the authors words. Williams proves how post-modernism began to be used using the arts around use. Thinking deeper into the world around us.